Lifehouse: Jason Wade (vocals, guitar); Sergio Andrade (bass); Diff (drums).

Additional personnel: Ron Aniello (various instruments, guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion); Collin Hayden (electric guitar); Aaron Lord (viola); Marcus Barone (Chamberlain); Aaron Embry (keyboards); John Leftwich (string bass); Bob Glaub (bass); Jack Kelly, Matt Laug (drums); Walter Rodriquez (tambourine); Jude Cole, Kendall Payne (background vocals).

Engineers: Ron Aniello, Neal Averon, Jim Scott.

In the year 2000, you'd be well within your rights to assume there's little new ground to be broken by a guitar-bass-drums rock band. Admittedly, you'd probably be right; Lifehouse doesn't break any astonishing new ground or pioneer any new trends. That's not what this pop-rock trio is about. They're more concerning with crafting solid songs and arresting arrangements than being the Next Big Thing. Fortunately, their songcraft has proven solid enough to earn them a solid following.

The group has clearly learned some lessons from the post-Nirvana school of alt-rock. They handily combine melodic, understated moments with emphatic sonic outbursts. Moody keyboards and delicate acoustic guitar walk hand in hand with hardy power chords and hard-hitting rhythms. Simple but effective melodic hooks keep the listener's attention focused on both the personal, ruminative lyrics and the pop-friendly production.